Jim Harbaugh Should Be NFL Coach Of The Year

Jim Harbaugh Coach Of The Year

In all the talk about who should be coach of the year one name you don’t hear is Jim Harbaugh. Fo the 2011 season he was an obvious choice for coach of the year having taken a losing team from 2010 and turning it around to the point of being one play from the super bowl.

For the 2012 season Jim Harbaugh once again got his team to the NFC championship game. Why should taking the same team back to the same championship game earn Harbaugh the Coach Of The Year award? First of all in 2011 the 49ers were coming off a losing season and thus had a weak schedule. In 2012 the 49ers played a much harder schedule and once again made it to the NFC championship.

The coach that is recognized as the coach of the year should be a coach that does something above and beyond coaching the talent around him. Jim Harbaugh did something most coaches wouldn’t do. With the number 3 rated quarterback in the league coming off a 19 for 21 performance, Jim Harbaugh made the decision to change quarterbacks. After the performance last week by Colin Kaepernick it’s easy to say it wasn’t that big of a decision but you also have to consider that Harbaugh was an NFL quarterback. Kind of a brotherhood thing and yet he benched a quarterback that was doing his job will.

Indianapolis Colts Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has been mentioned for coach of the year. With the head coach out for medical reasons Arians lead the team to playoffs after finishing the previous year dead last. Well it wasn’t a shake up in coaching that made the difference for the Colts, it was the drafting of Andrew Luck another quarterback trained by Jim Harbaugh.

Continuing with Alex Smith would have been the easy move and would really be playing not to lose. Instead Jim Harbaugh made a huge move to Colin Kaepernick showing that he isn’t playing to “not lose” but is playing to win. That’s why Jim Harbaugh should be named coach of the year.